The Hills of Somerset and Morris County

When Laura set an invitation to a hilly ride out of Somerset county I reluctantly accepted. She and a few others had plan to do the Morris Area Freewheelers Revolutionary Ramble a couple of weeks ago but decided not to do it because of rainy weather. Now that we actually had a non rainy Saturday she wanted to do the route. 

After a few edits from the original Revolutionary Ramble route we ended up with a 46 mile 3000 ft ride. Most of the hills on the route I had done before except for a couple south of Gladstone. I have been riding pretty well this spring so was confident that I could do the hills my only concern was has fast I could be and if the amount of climbing would cause cramps. 

We started out of Raritan Valley College. It was in the upper 70s when we started and sunny going up close to 90 by mid afternoon. The first hill was Rockaway Rd which was 5 miles into the ride. This is a long but gradual hill. This was followed by Sawmill which is a little steeper. The pay off for this climbing was bombing down Fox Hill Rd. I have done this downhill enough to be able to go down at full speed. 

Then it was our first rest stop at the Oldwick General store. Laura had planned two stops because of the amount of climbing. Then it was more hills. The short but annoying Vliettown Rd then longer grind up Potterville Rd that brought us downhill into Gladstone. We then took a loop around Gladstone up Mendham Rd which was a gentle climb and down Mosle and Branch back into town. Of course no road around here is a straight up or down there are always little bumps and dips that strain the legs. 

After the loop around Gladstone we ended up in Coco-luxe for our second break. It was getting hot so was glad to have to break to re hydrate before our final climbs. 

The final 15 miles of the ride were on more main roads that would have a little more traffic so it was less about scenery and more about getting back to the starting point. There were still a couple of climbs on the way back. The first one was just after we crossed 206. It was another long but gradual climb up Liberty Corner. Not sure where we were but the road we climbed had a large drop off to the right into a forest. 

The last real climb of the day was on Somerville Rd to get over Rt 78. This is one of those climbs that gets steeper towards the top. It was the hardest climb of the day and I almost switch to the granny gear as my heart rate hit 170. We gathered at the top and then headed down a windy and steep downhill. About three quarter of the way down the hill I heard some one yell something but kept going. 

At the bottom of the hill I gathered up with Laura who said she heard someone yell "FLAT". I eventually got a text that somebody had fallen. They had some road rash but where okay. The person had hit some water and fell. They tried to fix the flat tires and bike but couldn't get it back to a rideable state. 

Someone stayed with the downed rider while the rest of us went back. We were about 7 miles from the starting point and it was mostly flat on the way back. The only hill left was the small one to get back into the college. I cramped about half way up the hill but just pushed through it. 

We then went and retrieved the fallen rider and headed home. I'm sure the bike and fallen rider will be back riding in a few days. 

This was the hilliest ride I have done in a few years. My legs were sore and I had a few cramps after the ride but I climbed better than I thought so will probably do some hillier rides going forward since I know I can handle them.  

Birds in Flight

Today is yet another Saturday where rain or threat of rain has kept me off my bike. This has been a rainy spring as 11 out of the last 15 weekends have had some kind of rain. Hopefully I will be able to get a ride in tomorrow. 

While I sit inside today I have had time to process some photos of some birds in flight I took down at the Edwin B. Forsythe bird sanctuary.  It's a quick hour drive from where I live and usually worth the trip as there are always a lot of birds there feeding in the marsh. This time there weren't as many herons or egrets as usual but there were a lot of terns flying by the road and managed to get a good shot of one in flight as shown in the top of the post. 

There was also an osprey hovering over the road. There are 3 or 4 osprey nest in the sanctuary but this is the first time I saw one flying around. Click on the picture if you want to see it up close. Since it is a slow flying bird I was able to get it in perfect focus and the lighting was good. 

For some reason there were a lot of turtles walking around so I had to be careful not to run over them. 

There are always seagulls and I manage to capture one with a crab in its mouth. 

 

I just wish the lighting was better as the colors are washed out. With my camera on rapid fire mode I took a lot of pictures most of them not worth showing but shooting a lot of photos is the only way to get a good photo of rapid moving wildlife. I am improving my technique so am getting a better ratio of keepers but there is still a good amount of luck and timing involved. 

This picture of a red winged black bird was mostly luck as I was just taking a picture of it sitting on a guard rail when it took off. Luckily my camera kept it in focus and because of was shooting at a high shutter speed it came out pretty sharp. These birds fly really fast so these are not birds that are easy to track in flight. 

I still have room for improvement but enjoy the challenge of this type of photography so will keep trying until I get it right. 

Bridge NOT Out

I led a ride from Yardley this past weekend that went over the Lamberville/New Hope bridge. The bridge was close to pedestrian and car traffic earlier in the year. Last year during some other work being done on the bridge they found that a 4 inch diameter pin was failing which could have caused the bridge to collapse. We go over the bridge on a regular basis so I'm glad the fixed it before it fell into the river. As part of the repair they refurbished the walkway. It's now wider so you don't have to duck into beams to let some on pass you. 

I had a full ride with a few riders that I haven't ridden before. Most of the new riders seemed to like the route and the ride and said they may join me again on my next ride. I don't really believe them because I have a lot of new people come on my rides but very few of them come back. Not sure why. Sure we are a little sarcastic but are a friendly bunch. 

It was a little cold at the start but ended being a beautiful day with no rain for once. We didn't even have any of my normal bridge out crossings or dirt so one of my better rides. This was one of the hillier rides I did this year but felt good so now that it is getting warmer I may venture a little further up the Delaware and explore some of the hills on both sides of the river. 

In other news. I did a ride around the Manasquan Reservoir today and can report that the reservoir is now full as you can see from these pictures of the visitor center

 

and from Georgia Road.

 

So I guess all the annoying rain we have been getting filled all the rivers and reservoirs.